For Hibari, the matter of finding a disciple, while not urgent, was something he needed to start thinking about. First, his most favored candidates were naturally people from his own Senju clan. But out of them, there were only two he could teach. One was little Tsunade, but she didn't seem to have much interest in becoming his apprentice. Hibari had brought it up a few times, but she always refused.
Also, after her education at the Ninja Academy and the impact of the Senju clan's sacrifices in this war, like Senju Sakaun, she had awakened her interest in medical ninjutsu. She spent her days researching these things and was not as mischievous as she used to be.
But Hibari had little to no knowledge of medical ninjutsu. He didn't have much use for it himself since his life force was incredibly strong. He had never been sick his entire life. Even if he got injured, as long as he didn't die on the spot, he could just bandage himself up and be as good as new after resting for a few days.
The fact that he recovered after having most of his life force drained showed that medical ninjutsu was useless to 'talented' people like Hibari and Hashirama, unless it was used to heal their comrades.
So Hibari had no skill in medical ninjutsu, and he didn't want to mess with little Tsunade's future achievements. Besides, little Tsunade was already an apprentice to Hiruzen, and it would be inappropriate for him to suddenly poach her.
As for the other person, it was his younger brother Nawaki, who was just born. But that was a story for another time. Nawaki couldn't even speak yet and could only babble. Even if Hibari wanted to train him, he couldn't right now.
But this was only within the Senju clan. The matter of taking on an apprentice wasn't limited to his own clan. After all, this was no longer the Warring States period; it was the era of the villages.
Weren't all of Tobirama's apprentices, besides Hibari, from other clans? Hiruzen also taught other disciples.
So, setting aside his family, there were many other people Hibari could choose from. However, he was very picky and hadn't found anyone he liked yet. Maybe Hiruzen's eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, was a possible candidate.
That's right, Hiruzen now had a son, and he was almost four years old. He would soon be sent to the Ninja Academy. As for his name, he never really appeared in the original story. People knew that Hiruzen had an eldest son, but his name was never revealed. There were rumors that his name was Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
As it turned out, when Hiruzen's son was born, he was overjoyed and asked Hibari what he should name him. Out of a sense of mischief, Hibari told him to name him Shinnosuke, which meant that he could become a new generation of strong shinobi in the Sarutobi clan, just like his grandfather, Sasuke.
Although it was a joke, Hiruzen clearly took his words to heart. When the matter was brought up again later, Hiruzen was very happy and thanked Hibari for naming his son...
Since then, regardless of what his name was originally supposed to be, Hiruzen's eldest son was now called Shinnosuke. This made Hibari feel a little awkward, but he didn't dare tell Hiruzen that he was just joking. Thankfully, the name was not bad, and no one knew the story behind it, so Hibari decided not to tell anyone.
Shinnosuke was a candidate, but Hibari wasn't fixated on him. If he had to say that there was a person he really wanted to find to teach his 'Shiryōjutsu' to, there was one person he was very satisfied with, but he had sent Anbu members to look for him for a long time without any concrete news.
That person was Hidan, who would later join the Jashin cult and become Kakuzu's partner. Hibari had received news about the Jashin cult from the Anbu a long time ago and had arranged for some people to help him inquire about it when they had time, as Hibari was very interested in the Jashin cult.
This cult had only recently emerged and was active in various small nations, recruiting people who had been played by fate and war to become their followers.
Their doctrine was to worship a mysterious evil god and practice evil rituals of slaughter. But they did have a secret technique or experiment that could make a person immortal, and Hidan was one of the results of the Jashin cult.
According to the latest intelligence in Hibari's hands, the Jashin cult had already started to establish itself in the Land of Hot Water and seemed to want to make it their headquarters.
The reason for this was not unrelated to Konohagakure. After all, Konoha and Kumogakure had fought a major battle in the Land of Hot Water, which left the unfortunate small nation riddled with holes and the people suffering immensely.
This situation provided the perfect environment for the Jashin cult and other crazy cults to grow and develop. So the Jashin cult seized the opportunity to stir up trouble and aggressively expand their followers in the Land of Hot Water.
And if Hibari remembered correctly, Hidan was originally a ninja from the Land of Hot Water who was later tricked into joining the Jashin cult, which led to him gaining immortality and gradually reaching the peak of his life.
In Hibari's opinion, Hidan was a very promising person, but he ended up killing himself. He had many flaws, such as being impatient, reckless, arrogant, and neurotic.
But he also had other advantages. For example, he was very simple and direct, and his personality was not gloomy at all. Instead, he was very open and said whatever was on his mind without holding back.
Another reason why Hibari thought this guy was very suitable to be an apprentice was because he was too 'simple' and very easy to 'brainwash.' As long as he could 'snatch' the guy before the Jashin cult's brainwashing became too severe, Hibari was confident that he could properly train this idiot.
Changing his worship from Jashin to himself as his master would be wonderful. He would also have another powerful fighter under his command, making things much more convenient in the future.
However, after a period of investigation, the Anbu also gave Hibari some feedback. Although the Jashin cult was expanding aggressively in the Land of Hot Water, it had not yet established a firm footing. At the same time, there was no shinobi named 'Hidan' in the Land of Hot Water. This suggested that the boy had not yet become a shinobi, and it was even possible that he had not been born yet.
After all, even though he later became Kakuzu's partner, his real age wasn't necessarily that of an 'immortal' like Kakuzu.
Therefore, Hibari had already begun to adjust his strategy. Instead of waiting for the Jashin cult to compete with him for the person, it would be better to find an opportunity to 'take over' the Jashin cult. Then he could be the leader of the cult, which would serve as a secret identity and make it convenient to do some unknown things.
At the same time, he could control this bastard cult to a certain extent and prevent these lunatics from causing so much harm. It would kill two birds with one stone, so why not?
But for now, these were just ideas. He would need some time to stir up some trouble.
Fortunately, the First Shinobi World War was about to end, and there would be a long period of development afterward. Hibari also had time to ponder and research these things.
"I'll take it one step at a time..." Hibari whispered softly.
Then Tobirama asked with a strange expression, "What did you say?"
"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking about some random things, and I haven't sorted them out yet..." Hibari said with a smile.
Tobirama didn't ask any more questions. He just nodded and then said, "I've been meaning to teach you some new things, but plans fell through. The war came and disrupted our plans, so I haven't taught you what I was supposed to. Now, I'm no longer the Hokage and have some free time. You've also dumped all the Anbu work on Hitenn and aren't very busy yourself. Starting today, you'll learn my jutsu. I'm going to teach you everything I've learned in my life..."
Hearing this, Hibari's eyes lit up, and he said, "Are you finally going to teach me the Flying Raijin jutsu? How long has this been dragging on? I can't wait!"
"Not just that. I think I can also teach you the Tandem Paper Bombs and many other secret and forbidden jutsu," Tobirama said with a smile.
This made Hibari incredibly happy. He clapped his hands and said, "That's great! I'll learn everything you teach me!"
Even though Hibari was happy, he wasn't so impulsive as to rush into learning. He first glanced at Kakuzu, who was following him, and then said, "Ojiisan, I'll go and learn the Flying Raijin tomorrow. Today, I'll go and arrange and handle some other matters so I don't get interrupted again..."
Tobirama didn't ask any more questions. He just nodded and said, "As long as you have a plan."
After saying that, Hibari didn't linger. He greeted Tobirama and left the Senju clan's residence with Kakuzu, heading towards the headquarters of the Mitsumine Group.
As they walked, Hibari said, "Even if you don't follow me every day, I know I haven't fulfilled my promise to you yet. Seriously..."
"Your credibility has fallen to rock bottom in my eyes. It was supposed to be a simple transaction, but you've been procrastinating for so long..." Kakuzu said in an angry tone.
He had been waiting for the position of a director at the Mitsumine Group for a long time. Yet, Hibari had already developed two jutsu using the Jiongu, and he still hadn't arranged a position for him. Naturally, Kakuzu had been complaining about Hibari a lot in his mind.
Hibari rolled his eyes at him and said, "You never think the best of people. I haven't been ignoring you these past few days. I've found a new way to make money that I'm going to give you to manage. It'll be under the Mitsumine Group's name, which will solidify your position as a director and give you something to do..."
When Kakuzu heard this, his eyes flashed with excitement. He had great faith in Hibari's money-making ideas. Before Hibari went to the front lines, he had arranged for Kakuzu to meet with his secretary, Hitoku Hyūga, to learn about the inner workings of the Mitsumine Group.
After this, Kakuzu, who already respected Hibari, came to believe even more that Hibari should have been a businessman, not a shinobi.
The entire operation of the Mitsumine Group was a completely new and unimagined model that amazed Kakuzu. At the same time, the various internal businesses were well-organized, and the profits they made were incredible.
So now, when he heard that Hibari was going to give him a new way to make money, he was very interested and quickly asked, "What kind of business?"
"Public opinion... or rather... the news!" Hibari said with a raised eyebrow and a soft voice.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!